Bye, Baby
by Daydreamr4ever
Summary: This takes place about five years after Season 2, episode 4. This is just a fluff piece, rated T in case this story changes. Ben learns to let go of his "baby" and accepts that she's growing up before his eyes. Longfic
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! So, this is my first fanfic ever! I've loved the show Baby Daddy for a long time and loved the story concept, and I've wanted to play with the scenario. So, Emma is about four or five in this- please excuse me if she acts older or younger than her age, I haven't spent much time around ****kindergarteners. Please review and tell me if this is worth turning into a longfic! Thanks, and enjoy! :)  
~Caitlyn  
**

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"Daddy. Daaaddyy!" Ben awoke to two big blue eyes boring into his as Emma tugged on his shirtsleeve. "Daddy, I need breakfast. School soon." He sat up and yawned as she padded out of his room and into the kitchen. Ben stretched and stood up, following his daughter out.

He was pouring Emma's cereal when Tucker stumbled into the kitchen, still half asleep. "Hey, Tuck." Ben greeted his roommate, handing him a cup of coffee as Tuck passed him.

Tucker mumbled a hello as he sat down at the counter, holding his head. Ben chuckled. "Hangover, man?"

"No. Don't speak, please. I haven't drunk that much since the party at 4C." Tucker took a tentative sip of coffee before resting his head on the table.

"Daddy, what's a hangover?" Emma piped up for the kitchen table.

_ Crap._ Ben and Tucker had been trying to stop swearing and using "grown up" words around Emma. The transition had been harder than they originally thought. Emma's teacher had already called Ben in when Emma said she wanted to go to her Daddy's bar for lunch. Then he had to explain to her that bars were for grown-ups, and she fired back with "Then why do I spend lots of time there?" He couldn't win that one, so he just popped The Little Mermaid in the DVD player, and they munched on popcorn until her bedtime.

"That's another grown-up word that Uncle Tucker," Ben shot a glare at the slumped form at the counter, "shouldn't be using." He brushed Emma's tangled curls out of her face. She reminded him so much of Angela. The way she talked, her curly blonde hair and big aqua blue eyes. Sometimes, he felt like she had gotten nothing from him, but as his mom had pointed out on more than one occasion, she had his nose, smile and bad jokes from her Daddy. Now he smiled at his daughter as she wolfed down her Rice Krispies.

"Good morning!" Riley called as she walked in the door, Danny close behind her.

Tucker winced as the door slammed shut.

"Bad night?" Riley guessed, walking into the kitchen and pouring two cups of coffee. She had adjusted to the "Little kid talk" better than the others.

"Uncle Tucker's got a hangover." Emma declared, not looking up from her breakfast. Riley sent Ben a look.

"What?" He held his hands up in surrender. "Innocent mistake."

"Oh yeah, like the bar thing?" Riley handed a full mug to Danny before taking a seat across the table from Ben.

"Well..." Ben didn't know what to say to that, so he just turned to his daughter. "You ready for hair, princess?" He asked, picking up her empty bowl and carrying it over to the sink. She nodded and hopped down from her chair.

"Morning Auntie Riley and Uncle Danny!" She chirped cheerily, wandering out of the kitchen.

"Wait, _you_ do her hair?" Danny snickered from his place beside Tucker.

"Well, yeah, who do you think braids, fishtails, and ties her hair up in bows every day?" Ben asked, unperturbed.

"Mom, maybe? She still lives across from you guys, you know."

Ben shrugged before exiting the kitchen.

"So, what do we want today? Fishtails? Pigtails?" Ben began brushing her hair as she stood on her stepstool, sifting through her little basket of ribbons and hairties.

"Fishtails, please!" She said, and he instantly regretted having offered it. Fishtails were the hardest of the hairstyles for him. Then again, the fact that he learned to do his daughter's hair from YouTube videos probably meant that he had signed up for that willingly. But before he could say that braids might be quicker, he met her big blue eyes and realized he couldn't tell her no. So he set to work fishtailing her hair while she brushed her teeth. "And don't forget to floss. You don't want to have yucky green teeth, right? The tooth fairy will be disappointed." He reminded her, moving to do the other side of her hair. She nodded vigorously, messing up the side Ben had just started on, and he handed her the floss and started again. He tied the purple ribbons to the ends of the two fishtails and she trotted out to her room to get dressed.

Out in the kitchen, Riley and Danny were chatting while Tucker curled up on the couch with a My Little Pony ice pack on his head.

"So, I like the red and white flowers." Riley said, scrolling through some pictures of flowers on the iPad they were looking at.

"That's fine. But can I _please_ have the Best Man dress up in a Rangers Jersey?" Danny pleaded, giving what he thought were the puppy dog eyes.

"You're six-foot-two, Danny. The puppy dog eyes only work on five-year-olds like Emma. And no, we are not putting Ben in a Ranger's Jersey at our wedding." Riley replied, softening the blow with a peck on his cheek. Danny smiled at her and settled his strong arm around his fiancé's shoulders. Even though they had been dating for four years, he still couldn't believe how lucky he was to have Riley in his life. He had loved her for years, and when she finally admitted that she loved him back, his heart soared, and it still hadn't come back down.

"Ugh. Your happiness is interrupting my ha- I mean, my bad morning." Tucker corrected himself as Emma trotted into the room, wearing her shoes on the wrong feet.

"I'm ready for school!" She announced, looking around for her dad.

"I'm shaving, honey. Someone, if she's wearing something wrong, just fix it please!" Ben called from the bathroom. Danny sat Emma down and switched her shoes onto the right feet. Riley looked Emma's outfit up and down and nodded approvingly.

"You're daughter's got a nice sense of fashion." Riley commented as Ben emerged from the bathroom, straightening his tie.

"Thanks." He smirked as he walked over to Emma and lifted her up on his hip. "Oh, is that the shirt Chelsea got for you?" He asked his daughter hopefully. She seemed to realize this as well and started wiggling her legs. "Let me down!" She exclaimed. Ben gave her a look. "_Please?" _She added.

The moment he set her down, she bolted to her room. Ben sighed, exasperated. "I have no idea why she hates Chelsea so much. Chelsea adores her." Ben ran a hand through his hair.

"Maybe she doesn't want to share her daddy with someone else," Riley suggested, turning off the iPad. "You j_ust_ started dating again, and now Emma's old enough to feel like she's competing for you."

Ben just stared at her.

Danny stood up and refilled his mug. "It's still weird to think that I don't live here anymore." He commented, abruptly changing the subject.

"You technically still do. You both are here every day." Ben commented, glancing at Danny and Riley together.

Danny shrugged.

"Okay, Daddy, let's go!" Emma reappeared in a different shirt, toting her pink Dora the Explorer backpack.

"Alright, honey!" Ben grabbed his keys and swung her onto his hip. "See ya later, guys." He waved and closed the door.

Danny wrapped his arms around Riley's waist. "I'd say we should go somewhere more private, but since Emma has taken up residence in my room..." He shrugged and bent down to kiss her. She met him halfway, rising up on her toes, and wrapping her arms around his neck. He pressed her against the counter, forgetting who else was in the room.

"Ew. No. Please stop. This is _my _apartment, people!" Tucker complained, sitting up as Danny and Riley sprang apart, like two kids caught stealing cookies by an adult.

"Sorry, man. My old room's been turned into a fairy fortress by a five-year old girl." was Danny's reply. Tucker just got up and hobbled into his room, hands still on his head. Danny and Riley looked at each other and burst out laughing, and Danny reveled yet _again_ at how lucky he was to have his best friend in the world beside him, with a diamond ring on her left ring finger, getting ready to be married. To him. He held her close in his arms.

He didn't let go for a long time.

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**Reviews make my day ;)**


	2. Chapter 2: Sleepovers

**A/N: For those of you crazy obsessed Baby Daddy fans, you'll see what I did with two of the mom's names. I think it was pretty clever. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, alerted and followed this story! I'm sorry if this seems a little long- I didn't know where a good place to stop was. And I gave up on trying to use the tab button on this, so excuse the format. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but hopefully before Monday! **

**Oh, and I feel like I should add a disclaimer: I don't own Baby Daddy or any of it's characters, but I own Chelsea and all of the moms... not cool enough...**

**Please enjoy and review! :)  
~Caitlyn**

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"Okay, Emma, have fun at school! And remember don't say anything your Uncle Tucker taught you. Bye, baby- I mean, bye, Emma." Ben watched her run onto the playground with her friends, and then he turned around fast, blinking his eyes fast. No wonder Tucker and Danny revoked his bro card all of those years ago. Emma had been in kindergarten for two months now, and he still couldn't get over how fast his little girl had grown up. It seemed like only yesterday that Ben found out that he got a girl pregnant and she ditched the baby on the doorstep.

Ben shook his head, swiping at his eyes while chanting _Get over it, get over it and be a man. Earn your bro card back_ to himself as he walked back to the car and started for work. His parenting book told him that it was normal to find it hard to "let go" for a little while, but how long was that supposed to be? Five minutes? Five months? Ben felt like it was the latter, seeing as every day he had dropped Emma off at school, he felt a sense of dread, like she wasn't going to want to come home with Daddy one day. Someday, Ben thought, Someday I'll have to buy a gun to chase away the guy named Snake who shows up at my door with my little girl.

Ben got to Hendricks' Bar early, so he helped the staff set up chairs and get ready to open for the day. More than once, Riley had chastised him for working in the bar still, especially since Emma was old enough to walk around. "She could easily grab a cup of vodka and think it's water!" Riley had cried.

Bonnie, who was sitting next to Riley on the couch, came to her son's defense: "Well, I have no idea how much alcohol Ben and Danny consumed growing up, and they turned out..." Bonnie trailed off, giving Ben a once-over. "Well, you're not dead, are you?"

Ben constantly had to remind himself that he was not working behind the bar anymore, he had an office in the back of the building now. He had asked Hendricks to let him manage the New York City branch of the bars about two years prior, and he was shocked when Hendricks ("For god's sake, Walker, call me H!") said yes immediately. So Ben suddenly became the manager of three small New York City bars. With the help of newly-made-lawyer Riley, he actually was able to organize and get used to the work. In no time, he was handling things like a pro (after a couple of stress lines and lost hours of sleep showed up on his face). He chose to spend as much time as possible in the bar he'd been working at in the first place, and commonly found himself drifting towards the bar, and would end up pouring drinks on more than one occasion until someone reminded him of his position. Again.

So now he wandered on back to his office as the first customers of the day walked in for early morning drinks. He buried himself in paperwork and legal words he still didn't understand until there was a soft knock on his door. He looked up to find Chelsea standing in the doorframe, smiling at him.

"Hey, babe," Ben stood and walked over to his girlfriend, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "What brings you to Hendrick's Bar?"

"What do you think?" She smirked at him, and before he knew it her lips were on his and she was pushing him gently towards the couch.

Before they could get too far though, Ben pulled away. "Chels, I'm at work." He reminded her, a playful smile still on his face. He really didn't want to stop, but he had some deadlines waiting, something he still wasn't used to.

"I know, Ben. I just needed to see you. It's been a few days." He could read the underlying message, the suspicion of him cheating, and was slightly offended.

"I've been busy. I'm a single dad, and that kinda takes up my life." And that was truer than anything else. Emma had taken over his life, and he didn't mind a single bit. She was his sidekick- or, more accurately, he was hers. Dinners at the Dobbs-Wheeler apartment consisted of chicken nuggets or macaroni, washed down with an apple-juice box. Trading the six pack of Coors for an eighteen pack of Mott's for Kids had been especially hard on Tucker, who now kept a mini fridge in his room for beer.

Chelsea sighed, slightly annoyed. "Yeah, I know, I just thought you'd have a _little_ more time for people.. and me. Not to sound selfish, but come on." She rolled her eyes and got up, crossing her arms.

That _really_ bothered him. "Look, I can't just turn the dad thing off and on. Like it or not, I have two full time jobs, and my family is the most important thing to me right now."

"Ben, you have to have some free time. People go crazy if they don't."

"The little free time I do have is spent sleeping to _avoid_ going crazy."

Chelsea sighed and wrung her hands, a sign that she really din't want to argue right then. She looked up at him, grasping his right hand in her two small ones. "Can you _please_ get a babysitter tonight? I don't want to lose you." Her eyes bore into his, and he had to glance away. _Lose me? _He had _just _said he was too busy to do anything.

Finally, he squeezed her hands and said "Okay. Let's go to a bar or club and live it up like we should. Sound good?"

Chelsea grinned at him like a kid on Christmas. "Perfect! Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" She jumped up and down before kissing him good-bye, saying she had to get back to work. Funny, she didn't seem to be in a hurry when they were making out.

Later that day, Ben waved goodbye to the bartenders and waitresses as he left to go pick up Emma from school. He parked in the lot five minutes later and stood on the blacktop chatting with other parents as they waited for the bell to ring and for their kids to come racing out, bursting with news about their day. Sure enough, two minutes later, Emma came barreling out towards her father, holding a big paper in her hand.

"Hey princess." He greeted her, bending down to be at eye level with her. She gave him a toothy grin.

"Daddy, daddy look what I made!" She held up the paper for him to see. It took him a minute to realize that it was the kitchen that morning. "See, you and me at table and Uncle Tucker with his bad morning." _Oh dear god. _Ben thought as she pointed at the crayon-drawn stick figures, even though they were labeled already. "And here's Uncle Danny and Auntie Riley!" She said, pointing to the two stick figures standing very, very close together. He made a note to himself to ask Danny and Riley to not have too much PDA around Emma.

"I see sweetie. That's a very nice picture." He rolled it up and put it in her backpack. She babbled on and on and Ben zoned out until she tugged on his jacket sleeve and said "So, can I? Pleeeasee?" She was pulling the puppy-dog eyes and he had no idea why.

"Wait, what was it again?" He started wondering what else he had missed her say on multiple occasions.

She sighed, as if telling him again were the most annoying thing in the world. "Lily wants me to come sleepover at her house. Her momma's over there," She said, pointing across the blacktop to a woman chatting with some other moms while watching their kids play on the playground. "So can I? Please?"

"I... I'll just ask Lily's mom. You go play with them on the playground, okay, sweetie?" She smiled, nodded, handed him her backpack and ran off, not realizing this simple request was actually making his "letting go" thing easy and more difficult at the same time. Still, he forced himself over to the group of chatting women, and he put on his most charming, or, as both Chelsea and Riley called it, most flirty smile for them as he approached, holding his hand out to ladies.

"Hi, I'm Ben Wheeler, Emma's dad."

"I'm Suzanne Alright, and Zoey is my daughter."

"Ali Zenith, and Mikey is my son."

"I'm Michelle, Lily's mom" She was pretty, Ben thought, with cappuchino colored skin, and long, flowing black hair. But he was dating Chelsea, so he didn't bother being flirty, seeing as Chelsea was already suspicious of him. "My daughter was saying something about a sleepover with Lily, and I was hoping you could fill me in a little bit." His knowledge of little girls' sleepovers was about as good as his hair-braiding skills pre-YouTube.

She nodded, all bubbles and enthusiasm. "Oh, yes, Lily would love to have Emma over! She wouldn't even need a sleeping bag, because Lily has two twin beds in her room. Obviously not today, since it's a school night, but if Emma wants to come over tomorrow, she's totally welcome, seeing as it'll be Friday"

Ben nodded. "Okay... well, I'll check with Emma, but I'm sure she would love to come over." They exchanged numbers, and Ben promised to be in touch, while thinking _My baby wants to leave me._ But he smiled at the women, and walked onto the playground. "Emma, sweetie, it's time to go." He smiled at her as she slid down the slide and ran at him full force. This was an afternoon ritual.

"Ah-ha! Got you again!" He caught her up in his arms and swung her onto his hip. She wrapped her little arms around his neck as he carried him to the car.

"You'll always catch me, right, Daddy?" She asked as he buckled her into her carseat. He paused and told himself not to let his voice crack before he could answer her.

"Of course, baby. Daddy will always be there for you." He tried not to think of the day when she wouldn't need him to catch her anymore.

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**Reviews are pretty fun to do... *Wink wink nudge nudge***


	3. Chapter 3: Mothers and Glitter

**A/N: I realized that Ben may sound a little, well, not Casanova-y in this story. That's because he isn't. In my mind, he cleaned up his act to help out on Team Wheeler, but mostly, to make himself someone Emma could be proud of, since he says that a lot on the show, but never does anything about it. And he gets emotional sometimes when Emma tries to pull away from him because he's more attached to Emma, because he plays Daddy and Mommy- he works double time to make up for her absence. So that's that. Also, I'm considering jumping ahead to a slightly older Emma, but I don't feel like I'm finished with her at this current age. Thoughts? **

**I'd also like to thank everyone who's favorited, followed, and reviewed my story. It makes me smile whenever anyone does.**

**Anyway, please enjoy and review!**

**~Caitlyn**

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Ben unlocked the door to the apartment and let Emma babble on for another five minutes before sitting her down to help her do her homework. A.K.A: He did his daughter's homework while she watched, chattering the entire time. Today, though, she seemed to have run out of steam. So after a few minutes of her actually doing her own homework quietly, Ben tapped her arm. "What's wrong, baby?"

She paused, before looking him in the eye and asking him "Where is my mommy?"

Ben's eyes widened. Never, ever had she asked where her mother was. He thought he had escaped the question entirely. Nope. "Uhm... Well, Daddy doesn't know. I haven't seen your Mommy in a long time. She's not going to be around." Ben had prepared for this conversation years ago, but when she reached preschool and never asked, he figured she would just let it slide.

"Why?" She looked upset. "Did mommy not like me?"

Oh jeez. He thought quickly, so he wouldn't end up with her in tears for the next hour. "Mommy loved you a lot, but she couldn't stay." He was digging himself into a hole.

"Why?"

"Because... She couldn't. But I can. So it's just you and me, like always." He smiled at his daughter, hugging her side and praying that this conversation would be over soon.

"But Lily and Zoey and Mikey all have mommies." Emma protested, clearly wanting a better answer.

"Yes they do..." Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to come up with a sugarcoated version of the truth. "And so do you," It hurt him to see her face light up like that, because what he said next would probably hurt her feelings. "But she wasn't able to stay for... many reasons that I'll tell you when you're older. But I don't think you're gonna meet her honey."

Emma looked up at him with a blank face, He had a feeling she had zoned out during his little speech. "So I don't have a mommy?"

Ben sighed. "No, you don't. But you have Daddy, and Uncle Tucker, Uncle Danny, Auntie Riley and Grandma, and we all love you very much."

Emma nodded, like that answer satisfied her. "Love you, Daddy." She happily patted his cheek and shoved the rest of her homework at him, clearly stating that, for now at least, she was happy being a Daddy's Girl.

"Tuck! Come on, it was just a little glitter. She's done that before." Ben told his roommate, getting a towel to wipe off the pink-and-white glitter scattered across, well, the entire kitchen. Tucker gestured again at the collared shirt he was wearing, the front covered in glitter.

"But last time, it wasn't sticky and covered in _glue._" Tucker growled at him, using a lint roller, desperately trying to get the pink off before he headed to work.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, it compliments your skin tone perfectly." Ben offered, getting out the dust pan.

"Really? Thanks. And you know, I also look amazing in fluorescent lighting, too..." Tucker looked pleased for a moment before remembering to be mad at Ben.

"You know, you could just change your shirt." Ben reminded him as he watched Tuck go through another sheet of the lint roller stuff. His roommate glared at him.

"Chase is having us do this white-collar-white-shirt thing today. This is the only white collared shirt that I have!"

"Okay man." Ben held up his dustpan in surrender.

"Daddy, can I go over to Lily's tomorrow? Pleeaseee?"

Tucker looked surprised. "She wants have a sleepover?" He turned to Ben, grinning ear to ear. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you're thinking she's way too young to have a sleepover, yeah, you are." Ben dumped the rest of the glitter into the trash can before putting away the dustpan and hand broom. Tucker stared at him incredulously.

"No! _Dudes night out! _And a free babysitter, not even here! I can bring someone home and not feel guilty."

"Why would you feel bad about having a friend?" Emma piped up from next to him. She had clambered onto the stool next to Tucker at the counter. "I brought over Molly once. She was nice, right, Daddy?" She looked at him, daring him to say no.

"Yes she was, kiddo." He replied, trying to remember who the heck Molly was. He leaned against the island counter, facing the two of them.

"So can I sleep over at Lily's? Pretty please, Daddy?" She begged, switching gears. Ben noticed that both Tucker and his daughter were using the puppy dog eyes, though Emma was much more convincing. He sighed in resignation, and the two of them grinned.

"Fine," He said exasperatedly, drawing out the word for much longer than necessary. "I'll call Lily's mom and let her know you're coming over tomorrow." He watched Emma and Tucker high-five before he stepped into his room to make the call.

_The perfect tag team, they are. _Ben thought, Yoda-style, as he listened to the phone ring. On the third chime, Michelle picked up. "Hello?"

"Uhm, hi... This is Ben Wheeler, Emma Wheeler's dad." He realized he sounded really awkward, but Michelle didn't seem to mind.

"Oh, hi Ben! How's it going?" Did she really want to start a long conversation?

"Good... How are you?" He was really off his game.

"Oh, I'm just fantastic! I assume you're calling about Emma sleeping over?"

He let her question hang there for a minute before answering reluctantly. "Yeah, she would really like to sleep over if that's cool with you."

"Yes! Oh, Lily's going to be so excited!" Michelle's voice quieted a bit when she added "You know, this is Lily's first sleepover." For some reason, that made Ben even more nervous, but he replied anyway.

"This is Emma's first sleepover too. What does she need?" He sat down on his bed, wondering if he was going to need a list for this.

"Probably just pajamas, clothes for the day after, hairbrush, toothpaste, toothbrush, if she needs a stuffed animal, that too, and anything else you think she'll need." Michelle sounded like she was reading from a list herself. Ben nodded, then suddenly remembered that she couldn't see him.

"Okay, then. Will you be picking the both of them up from school?" His voice had gone back to formal and polite again, and he didn't know why.

"Yep! And you can come pick her up on Saturday morning, or if she gets homesick, I'll let her call you. Okay?"

"Okay." _Not okay._ "Thanks, and see you Saturday." He hung up rather abruptly, not wanting to linger.

He walked into the living room to find Tucker gone, and Emma playing with her Barbies on the floor. She looked up at him and beamed. "Hi, daddy. Want to play?" she held up a Barbie for him.

Now Ben had done a lot for his daughter. He'd given up one night stands, most beers and alcohol, and his man card for hair braiding and taking Emma shopping for princess dresses. But he would never, ever play with a Barbie. Not even for her.

"No thanks, Emmakins. I'll watch you though." He sat down as he watched his daughter make the dolls talk to each other and change from dress to dress, and he thought to himself, _What a wonderful world._ For now, at least, everything was at peace.

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**Thanks for reading! And remember, kids, a review a day keeps... well... it makes me happy :)**


	4. Chapter 4: Break-Ups and Friendship

**A/N: Sorry that this update has taken a while. Oh, and I just think I should mention that I don't know when to end this, so I'll just keep writing until you all start yelling at me telling me to stop :P Also, these updates might be taking a little longer than usual- I'm taking a class that takes up a lot of time for me, but I'll try to post asap. Anyway, sorry that this part ends abruptly- I was in a hurry to get this part up. It's kinda random, but I was anxious to get certain events to happen...  
I know I've said this before, but thank you everyone for reviewing, alerting and favoriting this story!**

**Enjoy!  
~Caitlyn**

"Dude! We are free!" Tucker exclaimed as Ben walked through the door.

"Yup." Was Ben's single-syllable reply. Tucker pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

"Okay, so should we start with Pandemonium, or Rah-Rah's. I was thinking we could go club hopping until we find the one with the hottest chicks, and Go-Lucky obviously has the best..." Tucker noticed his friend's face. "Look, she's gonna be fine, man. She has her friend and her friend's mom watching her. They're gonna have fun and do whatever little girls do."

Ben sighed in resignation. "Okay, man. Tonight, it's just clubs and normal New York guys. I'm bringing Chels with me, too, alright?"

Tucker gaped at him. "Dude, no! This night is about us being bachelors! Remember?" He asked, pointing at himself. "Relationship Magnet here. I need casual. Now."

After much pleading and arguing, Ben invoked the Bro Code, and got his way. Two hours later, Ben, Chelsea and Tucker were walking into Pandemonium as it quickly filled up with a drunken Friday night crowd. Ben soon lost Tucker in the crowd, and grabbed Chelsea's hand to keep from losing her too. They made their way over to the bar and bought her some fruity drink thing that she wanted, and got a plain old beer for himself. They continued to dance for an hour, and caught a glimpse of Tucker getting passed over the mosh pit, as usual.

"I always wonder how he gets up there." Ben yelled over the music.

"Ew, that's gross!" Chelsea hollered back.

Ben pulled her closer so he could say in her ear "I _said_ I wonder how Tucker is always passed over the mosh pit." Chelsea shrugged.

"He's like a little pocket-sized guy, so he's easy to lift."

"Tucker doesn't have loose lips!"

They carried on like that until Chelsea excused herself to use the restroom. The memory he had of the bathrooms there repulsed him, and he shuddered at it. He found his friend Wendy, who worked at MacLaren's Pub, and chatted with her for at least fifteen minutes before going to look for Chelsea. He nearly slammed into Tucker as he got dropped from the hands of the mosh pit.

"Hey, Tuck." Ben greeted his friend.

"BEN! I got, like, twenty different numbers and five free drinks! I'M ON FIRE!" Ben hardly understood what his friend was saying, but he patted his friend's back before continuing on his merry way.

He stepped out of the thick of people, glancing around the emptier area while relishing in air that wasn't completely tainted with sweat. He glanced to his left and noticed the back of head that had hair Chelsea's color and length. That's when she shifted slightly to the left, and he saw that the girl was sucking face with some dude that looked suspiciously like Adam Lavigne. He circled the couple and saw that the girl was, indeed, Chelsea. He stormed over to them grabbing her shoulder rather roughly. She looked shocked to see him.

"What the hell?!" He shouted. The Adam Lavigne look-alike tried to step in but Ben pushed him away with one hand, saying "Stay out of this, buddy" while keeping his eyes on Chelsea.

She stared at him guiltily. "Look you've been AWOL for the last few weeks, so I just-" But Ben cut her off.

"You just decided to cheat on me because I was busy? And here you are, cheating on me _again_, while I'm the person who drove you here in the first place!" Oh, he was beyond pissed.

Chelsea's eyes filled with tears, and he actually felt slightly guilty at not hearing her out. The guilt was gone in an instant, though, as she grabbed Look-Alike's hand and walked away. Ben blinked a moment, realizing what just happened. As if on cue, Tucker showed up at his side. "What's wrong, man? Where's Chelsea going?"

Ben shook his head. "To hell, hopefully. Looks like we're both bachelors now."

Tucker patted his shoulder. "Sorry, bud. Need a number?" He offered, holding out his phone. Ben respectfully declined, and drove the both of them back to the apartment in silence.

It was about 1am when they got back, Ben half carrying a drunken Tucker inside, dropping him off at the latter's room, before going into his own room, hoping to get a few hours of rest before he had to pick up Emma and head into work. The real world wasn't going to wait for Ben to recover from anything. It didn't wait for him to recover from the baby bomb, so it sure wasn't gonna wait for him to get over a breakup.

Roughly five hours earlier...

"Okay girls! Sleep tight, and don't stay up too late talking!" Emma and Lily had had a really fun day, in Emma's opinion. After school, they came back to Lily's house (and Emma kind of missed sliding and running into her dad's arms, but she didn't say anything.) and played dress-up for two hours before Lily's mom called them up for dinner that consisted of cartoon character-shaped mac-and-cheese, and apple slices, which tasted surprisingly good together. After, they ran around outside playing jumprope and hopscotch until Michelle called them in, reminding them that it was going to get dark soon, They played dolls until bedtime, and barely remembered to brush their teeth before stumbling into bed.

Overall, Emma decided, Lily's mom was really nice. Apparently, Lily's dad worked late hours, so he wouldn't be back until late. Emma couldn't imagine not seeing her daddy every day, and felt bad for Lily, but Lily didn't seem bothered by it. The girls chatted sleepily for a few minutes before falling into the peaceful sleep only a busy day could give little girls.

Emma woke up very early, 6:45, according to Lily's clock. Knowing that she couldn't fall back asleep, she waited for Lily to wake up. Impatient, she got up and tapped her friend's shoulder. Lily just rolled over. Emma sighed, sounding like her dad when he was slightly annoyed, and went to use the bathroom, positive that Lily would wake up when she got back. Emma raced out of the room at the sound of the flush, not even waiting to wash her hands, even though Daddy would be upset with her. A kid at school told the entire class that monsters came out of the toilets when people flushed. It took a lot of convincing and explanation of logic from her dad to get her to flush and not run screaming from the bathroom every single time she went.

She peeked back into Lily's room. Lily was still asleep. Emma looked around, and crept downstairs to the kitchen, hoping Lily's mom would be there. Thankfully, there was Michelle, making pancakes and bacon at the oven. She turned and noticed Emma hovering at the edge of the staircase.

"Hi, Emma," She greeted the young girl warmly. "You can sit down at the counter if you want. Is Lily still asleep?" Emma nodded as she climbed up onto the high-rise chair. Lily's mom laughed. "She definitely likes to sleep in on weekends. I'll go wake her up as soon as I'm done with these." Emma nodded, and watched the wisps of steam rise from the pancakes after Michelle set them on a plate to cool off when she went to go wake Lily.

Soon enough, after Lily had fully woken up at the smell of pancakes and bacon, the three of them were chatting and laughing like old friends, and Emma wondered why she and her family didn't do this as often. It was quite fun.

Around ten, Lily's mom asked Emma if she wanted to call her dad to see where he was, and when he wanted to pick her up, so Emma took the phone and wandered into another room to make the call.

On the second ring, she heard the phone being picked up. "Hello?" Her uncle Danny said.

"Oh, I thought this was Daddy's number, sorry Uncle Danny. Oh, and this is Emma." Emma stumbled over her words a bit.

"It's fine, Emmakins, don't worry about it. Do you need me to pick you up?" He offered, and she heard Riley call from the background "Is that Emma? Where's Ben?"

"I don't know. I'm gonna call Daddy. Thanks Uncle Danny, and bye-bye."

"Bye, kiddo."

Emma called her dad's number, but it just went to voicemail, so she called Danny again and asked for the ride, to which he easily agreed. Twenty minutes later, Emma was saying goodbye and thank-you to Lily and her mom, and waving until she couldn't see their house anymore.

"Did you have fun?" Riley asked from the passenger seat. Emma nodded her head vigorously, her blonde ringlets bouncing as she did. Riley laughed.

"Good, I'm glad you had a good first sleepover, honey." Riley said warmly, and looked at Danny and whispered something to him that Emma couldn't hear. Whatever it was, it made Danny smile and reach for her hand over the console. They looked at each other so lovingly, Emma gagged so they would stop. Laughing, they drove off into the the distance, back to the apartment.

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**Thanks for reading, and remember, you can never review too many times :) Again, sorry this part ended abruptly, but "part 2" of this should be up soon!**


	5. Chapter 5: Sweet Love and Bad Scares

**A/N**: **So, I haven't really proofread this part, so sorry if it was choppy and, well, ****_bad_****. I finished this in a rush. You'll notice I changed the first paragraph- it's just how I originally wrote it, and I thought it worked well as an opener here. There's a fair bit of Danny/Riley moments and lovey-dovey stuff between them here, and before anyone complains that Danny's being "un-manly", or Riley's being.. well, I don't know- but before you go accusing me of things, remember that these two are in the honeymoon stage of their relationship, and you've seen how stupid those two get around each other. Oh, and this chapter was written in response to a guest's request. Sorry that it's taken me a few days to update, I've been busy :P  
I know I say this a lot, but I am very grateful for the response this story has gotten in just nine days! So, again, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story! Enjoy the chapter!  
~Caitlyn**

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"I'm glad you had a good first sleepover, honey." Riley said warmly, and looked at Danny and whispered something to him that Emma couldn't hear. Whatever it was, it made Danny smile and reach for her hand over the console. Emma stared out the window, humming to the radio as she watched the world pass by in fast forward. She always loved the way the world turned into a blur as the car flew by everything.

Riley picked up her phone and speed dialed Ben's number. A few seconds later, she was speaking in a falsely sweet voice. "Hey, Ben. Wanna explain why your daughter is in _my_ car-"

"_Our_ car. We both paid for it!" Danny cut in. Riley rolled her eyes, but continued to speak.

"Why your daughter is in _our,_" She rolled her eyes at Danny. "Car?"

She nodded to whatever Ben was saying, glancing back at Emma once or twice. The end of the converstaion Emma could hear sounded like "Wait, what?" and then "Oh, that sucks!" followed by "I don't mean to sound like your mother- I don't even _want_ to sound like your mother- but I told you so!" She kind of sing-songed the last part, following it by "Oh- right- sorry. It's okay, Ben, we'll take her to our place. Yes, yes, now get Tucker to buy you donuts from that new place around the block, okay? Okay, feel better." She hung up and turned to face Emma. "So, your daddy is a little busy right now, so he asked for you to come over to our place. Is that okay with you?" Even though Riley was talking with a higher voice she reserved for children, all nicey-nicey and such, Emma knew it wasn't an option.

"I guess so..." She mumbled. She hadn't seen her dad in over twenty-four hours, and to the five-and-a-half-year old girl, that felt like forever. Riley patted Emma's hand with a sympathetic smile, probably guessing what Emma was thinking, before turning to Danny. She began whispering urgently to him, and he nodded along, his face hardening towards the end.

"Poor Ben..." Danny murmured, and Emma sat up, suddenly alert.

"What's the matter with Daddy?" She questioned- well, demanded, actually.

Riley smacked her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Oww! What the heck?"

"That was for your loose lips" She said, annoyance coloring her voice.

"Funny, you've never complained about-" He cut himself off when Riley raised her hand semi-threateningly. "I'll just keep driving." He finished hastily.

Emma found all this funny, and her worry about whatever happened with her dad vanished, as thoughts typically and blissfully do with young children.

Soon enough, they were entering Riley and Danny's apartment, placing Emma's backpack and overnight bag by the door, ready to go whenever Ben was ready to get his daughter. Danny sat down at their circular kitchen table with Emma, giving her a juice box from their emergency stash in the fridge, while he helped himself to a beer. Riley was about to reprimand her fiancé for so openly using alcohol around Emma, but stopped herself, and then laughed silently as she noticed their dramatic height differences. Emma probably a fourth of Danny's height. At most.

She slipped into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around him from behind. He smiled and gave her the sweetest, yet lightest of kisses, pulling out the chair on his other side for her to sit in, holding her left hand in his right one. Emma sipped on her juice box contentedly. After a second though, a strange gurgling noise sounded, and Emma pouted, knowing that her juicebox was finally empty. She trotted over to the trashcan and tossed it out. Riley rested her head on Danny's (very muscular) shoulder and examined their entwined hands resting on the table, smiling. Danny kissed the top of her head, before turning to Emma.

"Hey Emmakins, do you want to be part of a group hug?"He offered, already knowing her answer.

"Ooh, yes please!" She exclaimed, running over to hug her aunt and uncle like a little blonde bullet. She ran into welcome arms and began giggling unstoppably when aforementioned arms began tickling her. Soon she was squealing and wriggling out of their embrace, running into the other room to hide from the tickle monsters that were Riley and Danny, the ultimate tag team.

"Our slightly evil plan works every time." Danny declared triumpantly, loud enough for Emma to hear from the other room.

Riley squeezed his hand. "So I think that gives us, what, two minutes of alone time?" She guessed. They had their system down to a T. If they had Emma over, and wanted some alone time, the tickle monsters returned, and Emma would run out, get distracted with something for a few minutes, and then wander back to them, checking to see if the monsters were gone.

"That's plenty of time," Danny murmured, picking her up and sitting her up on the counter. "I think this morning went something like this..." He began, kissing her easily, now that she was eye level to him. Riley wrapped her arms and legs around him, and they simply stayed like that, alternating passionate kissing with quick checks for Emma, and simply looking at each other. After a few minutes, though, Riley climbed off the counter and Danny slipped out of the kitchen in pursuit of his niece.

"Hey, Emma?" He called, peeking his head into the guest bedroom, where they kept some of Emma's toys for her visits. She wasn't in there though. Danny furrowed his brow in confusion, and was about to turn around when Emma jumped out from behind the door.

"Boo!" She called, cackling somewhat at Danny's surprised face. "Did I scare you?" She asked hopefully, attaching herself to his hand as he began down the hallway towards the living room. Danny chuckled to cover up the fact that yes, for a split second, she did surprise him.

"Only a little, Emmakins," He told her, glancing down at the tiny girl. She pouted slightly, and he amended his statement quickly, adding "But, you were definitely scary."

She beamed as if he had just told her that she was a real princess, and skipped the rest of the way down the hall, still holding her uncle's hand.

Riley had to go to work at her law firm, Bender, Bowman, Brockman, and some other guy who's name no one could pronounce, so for the next half hour, Danny and Emma sat on the floor while he taught her how to play James Bond- or, tried to, at least. In the end, they ended up playing Go Fish contentedly. Soon enough, though, Emma got up to get a juice box, and Danny realized that it was time for lunch. He stood up, stretching his long legs, and regretting sitting on the floor for so long.

"Alright, Emma. Do you want a sandwich, or- Emma?" His relaxed voice became worried when he saw his little niece double over, and then run to the garbage can, where she promptly emptied the contents of her stomach. Danny ran over to her and picked her up, sitting her on the counter. "Emma, are you okay?" He quickly brushed her hair out of her face, looking at her pale complexion for any sign of what was wrong with her. He wiped her face as she sat limply on the counter, lolling her head slightly.

"Uncle Danny, I don't feel good. My tummy," she patted her stomach. "And my head," She pointed at her head, "hurts lot. Ow." She started crying, and Danny panicked, wondering if they even had children's medicine in the apartment. Before he could do much though, Emma passed out cold in his arms.

His mind blanking, he rushed her over to the couch, and patted her head, noticing how cold she had suddenly gotten, he wrapped her in a blanket, and checked her breathing, which was faint, but existent, similar to her heartbeat, which he also checked- ready to call 9-1-1 if either were failing. He hurried into the kitchen and threw open all of the cabinet doors, checking for children's medicine, _anything_ that he could give her.

Finally, he gave up, and brought over a glass of water and a bucket in case she threw up again. He checked her breathing and almost pulled away until he paused, and checked again. _Nothing_. He couldn't see a rise and fall of her chest, and when he placed his hand over her nose and mouth, no air was being taken in or let out.

Letting all rational thought fly out of his head, Danny whipped out his phone and dialed 9-1-1.

"Nine-one-one, state your emergency." The operator's voice calmly said.

"I think I need an ambulance. I have a little girl here who isn't breathing, she threw up and then passed out like two minutes ago." He rattled off his location, and followed the operator's directions for him for basic CPR until the ambulance arrived.

"Come on, Emmakins, hang in there," He begged his unconscious niece, hearing sirens in the distance. "Hang in there."

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**... I'm going to go now before you start throwing things at me in your mind. DON'T WORRY THERE'S MORE TO COME SOON-ISH.**


	6. Chapter 6: Family and Good Parenting

**A/N: So sorry this took so long to upload- I was finishing up with the class I was taking- it's all done now! I have a few announcements, though. The first is that I will be gone from the 14th of this month to the 3rd of August, so I'll try to get as much uploaded as possible between now and then. The second is that I think I'll be doing a couple more chapters of Emma at this age, and then skip ahead a few years. Sound off in the reviews on your thoughts. The third is that I'll begin posting announcements about the story and such in my twitter account: caity_kitkat so follow me for updates and such! I'll be shutting myself in for a few days to crank out more chapters (jk) for you all, but you know what inspires me (winkwink**_REVIEWS__**nudgenudge).  
**_**As always, thank you all for reviewing, favoriting and following this story! So now, without further ado, Chapter 6!**

**~Caitlyn**

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"Let me through- I'm her father!" Ben's frantic voice rang through the halls as he pushed past various doctors and nurses in his mad dash to see his daughter. He appeared in the doorway of her hospital room seconds later. "Oh, Emma." His voice portrayed everything he had been feeling in the past five mintues: Worry, fear, regret, and self-loathing for not bringing her home when he had the chance. He bit his index finger, a nervous tick he had picked up from his dad as a kid. He ran to her side, glancing at Danny, who had been sitting next to her and- even though she was sleeping- holding her hand since she had been picked up by the ambulance and brought to the room. Riley stood behind him, trying to relax him by telling him it wasn't his fault, but Danny's shoulders stayed tense, and he barely looked up when Ben walked in.

Ben leaned over and brushed the hair out of her eyes, and looked Danny. "What happened?" His voice and eyes were so full of worry and fear of the worst that Riley had to glance at the heart monitor to make sure that the worst didn't actually happen.

"I can answer that." A perky British voice sounded from the doorway. A woman walked in, glancing up from her clipboard to shake Ben's hand. "Hi, Dr. Martha Jones. I assume you're this little girl's father?"

Ben nodded, obviously waiting for an answer to his question. Dr. Jones moved to the opposite side of Emma's bed, securing the I.V. drip in the sleeping girl's arm before looking at her clipboard again. "Severe dehydration. High fever. She'll be fine in, oh, three to four days? According to your brother, though, she only threw up once, which is almost unheard of in the case of these circumstances."

Ben nodded, leaning on the edge of the bed. Danny stood up, stretching his arms, before turning to his brother. "I'm sorry, Ben. I was watching her, and I didn't think anything was up. It's my fault that she ended up here." He ran a hand through his hair, clearly ashamed that such a thing happened to his niece. Ben patted his brother's shoulder.

"It's alright, man." Ben assured him, though his voice cracked slightly. He hugged Riley before taking Danny's previous position in the plastic chair, holding his daughter's hand.

Dr. Jones left them to be alone, reminding them that Emma would be absolutely fine in a few days. Ben hardly heard her, begging Emma to wake up in his mind.

A few minutes later, a loud crash sounded from the hallway, followed quickly by a "Sorry!" Seconds later, Tucker appeared in the doorway, looking slightly disheveled. "Is she okay?" He asked, patting his hair to make sure it still looked, well, Tucker-fied.

"She'll be fine. She was severely dehydrated and she had a fever, but she'll be out in a few days." Riley informed him. The three boys leaned closer to Emma, as if they were unsure if she would stop breathing if they took her eyes off of her for a single second.

"Well this looks familiar." Bonnie commented from the doorway. Everyone glanced at her as she strolled in, dropping handbag. Riley started to speak, but Bonnie cut her off. "I got briefed at the front desk." She announced, and then whispered to Riley "And I also got a hot date." She held up a scrap of paper between her index finger and thumb.

"Wait, mom, what do you mean by "this looks familiar"? Emma's never been in the hospital before."

"She has you three fawning over her. This looks just like the night she got left alone as a baby." Bonnie shrugged.

"So you're saying I failed as a father?" Ben countered, sounding more defeated than angry.

"No, Benji. The familiarity of this scene reminds me of how far you've all come since that night," Bonnie's tone was gentle, not joking, telling him that she was actually being serious. "Look at all that you've achieved since then. You're a manager, a role model, a single father, and someone who Emma can be proud of." Ben gave her the ghost of a smile, and squeezed his daughter's hand before kissing her forehead.

"I love her." He said, repeating his words from the day he decided to keep her.

Bonnie smiled, before continuing. "This little girl changed all of us. Danny and Riley are getting married because of her, and Tucker..." Bonnie paused to think for a minute. Tucker crossed his arms.

"I'm waiting, Mrs. Wheeler."

"Oh, right. Uhm... Well, Tucker probably grew an inch or something. And she reminded me to trust you. Do you think any of us would be here today, the way that we are now, if you had failed as a parent? Try telling that to your little girl. She wouldn't believe you for a second, and neither would the rest of us."

Ben got up to hug his mother. "Thank you, Mom. And thank you, everyone. You all helped me raise Emma." Soon, everyone else joined in the hug.

"Can I be in the group hug? Please?" The group turned to find two big blue eyes staring at them expectantly. "Oh, and I don't like this." Emma added, pointing to the IV in her arm. Ben, Danny and Tucker swooped to her side.

"Are you alright?" Ben and Danny asked simultaneously.

Emma shrugged. "My tummy still hurts, and my head hurts."

Ben took her little hand into his again. "I promise this will never happen to you again, baby, okay?" Emma nodded at him, not correcting his calling her "baby". Ever since she had turned five, she had started asking her dad to stop calling her "baby", since she was in "big girl school" now. It broke Ben's heart to hear her say that at first, but he was a big boy who could handle it. Or so he thought.

"Alright, visiting hours are over now. Everyone out- this girl needs to recover." Dr. Martha Jones announced from the door, ushering everyone out.

"I can stay the night, though, right?" Ben asked, not getting up from his seat. Martha started to protest, but Ben cut in. "I can't leave her. Not tonight."

Dr. Jones slowly nodded. "I think I can get a cot set up for you, if that's what you please."

"It is. I'd feel better to be here with her."

Dr. Jones smiled at him. "You're a good dad, you know that right?"

Ben turned to Emma, who nodded her little head vigorously. "Yeah," He said, beaming at her. "Yeah, I think I do, now."

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**Thanks for reading! You know what to do now ;)**


	7. Chapter 7: Wedding Speeches and Cake

**A/N: I feel really bad that I promised a new chapter soon... and then made you wait a week. I know you don't want to hear excuses (my Nana came to visit me) so I'll get to the point. First of all, this it the last chapter of Emma being five. I don't know if i should end it here and then start a new story where she's older, or just add her older chapters here. Let me know in your reviews, or PM me. Oh, and I'm sorry/You're welcome. This part is twice as long as the others, which means it took me about an hour to write. Without proofreading. So... Sorry. I think you'll like it though. I did.  
As usual, thank you to everyone who read, favorited, followed and reviewed this story! If anyone has any questions for me, you can PM me, or you can ask me on twitter ( caity_kitkat). Thank you all so much! I've had a lot of fun writing about little Emma, Danny, Riley, and Ben, and how they're all grown up (Sorry, Tucker. He'll never change.). But just wait for teen Emma... ;)**

**~Caitlyn**

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"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

There were claps and "aww"'s as Danny bent down to kiss his wife, the new Mrs. Riley Wheeler. Ben smiled and glanced over at Emma, who looked beautiful in her white-and-green flower girl dress. She was staring at her uncle and aunt with awe and admiration. To the six year old girl, a wedding must have seemed like the most important thing in the world- and Emma seemed to be taking her flower girl duties very seriously. She sat up straight with her flower basket in her lap. Ben was worried that he would need to sit with her or have her stand with him and the other groomsmen, but she behaved flawlessly. He straightened his tux jacket, that had the word _Rangers_ embroidered on the lapel.

Danny swept up Riley in his arms, all cheesy-wedding-style, and carried her down the aisle, the two of them grinning all the way. The music got louder and people got up, exiting the church and following the newlyweds out. Ben rushed to Emma and picked her up, not wanting her to get lost in the crowd. He expertly wove through the sea of people with Emma on his hip.

His daughter wiggled out of his arms once they were outside of the church and ran over to Riley and Danny, who were thanking everyone for coming. Emma started waving at everyone, and Ben figured she would be fine for a while. He smiled and nodded at the people passing by, though he didn't really know who they were. Riley's law friends, and Danny's teammates, he assumed. Tucker was across the lawn, chatting up some girl who was at least three inches taller than him and way out of his league. Bonnie was twirling her hair while talking to her new boyfriend, some sort of artist. Danny Sr. was introducing Steve to everyone, and Ben... was just walking around aimlessly. He wanted to be flirting with the pretty girls like Tucker. He _should_ be flirting other girls. So why wasn't he?

He glanced at his little girl, holding Riley's hand, and found his answer. Riley's words from five months ago rang through his ears. "Emma's old enough to feel like she's competing for you." He didn't want that.

Just as he decided that Emma was more important than some girlfriend, he was suddenly knocked to the ground, and felt a sudden weight on his chest. Literally. He glanced "up" to find a light brunette-haired girl on top of him. Almost immediately she rolled off of him and began apologizing. He stood up and held out his hand to help the lady up, too.

"Oh my gosh, I am _so_ sorry, I got pushed and I tripped over this stupid dress, I honestly didn't mean to run into you, are you okay, I hope you didn't break anything, oh and my name's Brooke." She babbled on like this as the two of them brushed off their respective tuxes and dresses. Ben shook her hand, amused by her endless stream of words.

"I'm Ben, and it's okay, I'm fine, and I assume you are as well?" Somehow, his voice had ended in a flirty tone, and he mentally slapped himself. He had _just_ decided not to talk up any girls at the wedding. But Brooke didn't walk away, so he figured he was in for a long chat, something he should have been doing willingly anyway.

"So, bride or groom?" Now that she wasn't turning this way and that brushing off her dress, Ben got a good look at her. Brooke had high cheekbones and a slim figure, accentuated by her long violet dress, something all of the bridesmaids were wearing, except for Katie, the maid of honor. Brooke also had blue eyes that stood out against her bronzed skin like crystals. Ben blinked for a second before answering.

"Both. Danny's my brother and Riley..." _Used to beat the crap out of me and had a huge crush on me. _"Riley I've known all of my life."

"Oh, that's so sweet! I'm Riley's friend, we met at law school." She gave him a little smile, 100% friendly and not the least bit flirty. Ben didn't know whether to be relieved or insulted by that.

"Yeah, I-" Before he could embarrass himself by saying he was a bar manager, he heard a loud whistle, and turned around to see Danny gesturing for him to get in their limo. For some reason, Riley set up the vehicle arrangements so the groomsmen and bridesmaids would be in one limo, and the best man, maid of honor, their plus ones (Emma for Ben, and Dave for Katie), the family and bride and groom would be in the other. Luckily, their limo was long.

"See you later, then." He waved at Brooke before jogging over to the limo, where Danny ushered him in before sliding in himself and closing the door.

Ben made his way down the limo until he reached the empty space that Emma had kindly reserved for him. "You're right next to me, Daddy!" She remarked happily. He put on his "totally interested" face he had mastered for her and nodded.

"Isn't that lucky?" He said, hugging her from the side. She leaned against him and closed eyes.

"Daddy when do we go home?" She asked, sounding slightly tired. Ben felt a small wave of panic flow through him. A tired, cranky Emma was never a pleasant thing to deal with.

"Well, later, after we go to the party for Uncle Danny and Auntie Riley's wedding." He felt Emma sigh, so he leaned down and whispered to her "They're gonna have snacks and a _red velvet cake_." Emma sat up so fast, Ben had to jerk back so she didn't hit his nose.

"Like, _really_ red velvet? With the special frosting?" Emma's favorite dessert in the entire world was red velvet cake. He found that out on her second birthday when he gave her a little mini red velvet cake and she devoured it in minutes- well, ate half of it and the rest ended up on her face and in her hair. But ever since then, it was red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting for her special day. Which was a totally different day.

When Ben had managed to contact Angela and get the legal things straightened out, like Emma's birthday, he wasn't surprised to find out that Emma's birthday was in June. But in his mind, the day he had found Emma on his doormat was a special (and traumatic) day for him, so he created "special day" for him and Emma. On August 4th, the day he found Emma, he would take her out to the park, and in later years, a zoo, ice cream shop or toy store of her choosing. After that, they would come home and make a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting together. It was cheesy, yes, but Ben felt obliged as a father to dote on his daughter on that important day.

Danny and Riley held hands the entire way through dinner and the speeches, until Danny got up to say something.

"Now as you all know, I love that girl over there in the white dress with all of my heart." He began, gesturing to Riley, who blushed fiercely and ducked her head. "But, I don't think even she knows how much that is. So I'm gonna say it on the happiest day of my life. Riley. You are my love, my life, and now, my lovely wife. You have always been there for me, no matter how rough or strange things got." The room filled with chuckles. "You're the best friend anyone could have, and I'm so grateful every day that I'm yours. And I know I'm going to be saying 'Yes, dear' a whole lot now," Another chuckle. "But I look forward to that, along with the many adventures we're going to have throughout the rest of our lives together. Riley, I love you more than life itself, and I know I'm going to love you like that for all of eternity." Silence. Danny stood there a moment before nervously adding "Go Rangers..." Danny made his way back to his seat as the chuckles and applause sounded. Riley stood up and kissed him right then and there, in front of a hundred people for the second time that day.

Ben gave his speech about the day Riley, he, and Danny went to their first hockey game together, and the day Danny moved in and how Riley helped them survive the night. He talked about how, without the two of them, he couldn't have raised his daughter, and that their love "is something we all wish for. A wise man once said to Riley 'One day, you'll find a guy who truly appreciates you. A guy who can look into your heart and know what you're thinking.'. I think you've found him, Riley. And Danny, just keep saying 'Yes, dear' and you'll survive." Everyone laughed and clapped as he handed the microphone off and sat down.

Danny and Riley cut their piece of cake, and gave each other a piece, which turned out to be a messy affair, but they laughed it off and sat down together, while everyone else glanced back and forth, from the couple, to the cake.

Their first dance was to the song "I Won't Give Up", which Ben had honestly thought would be horrible, but the way the two of them danced and spun around the room as one, he realized how perfect it was.

"I won't give up on us... Even if the skies get rough... I'm giving you all my love... I'm still looking up." Danny mouthed the words to Riley as he spun her out, then in, and then dipped her, calling upon his twelve total hours of dance lessons to do so correctly. As the song ended, Riley rested her head on Danny's chest, and they danced like that for a minute before going to say hello to everyone _again, _and then get totally drunk before jetting off to their honeymoon in the Carribean, where they would stay a week, and then make a two-day stop at Disney (neither of them had been) before heading back to reality. They could hardly wait, yet somehow, they were still enjoying the loud crowd that had gathered on the dance floor.

The after party was fantastic. Emma was a hit, chattering to anyone and everyone who would listen to her, and dancing with everyone from Danny Sr. to Bonnie to the teenage party crashers, three of which were dressed as cows for no apparent reason. Ben kept an eye on her, while continually chatting with Brooke.

"You speech was amazing. I can't believe Danny was in love with Riley for so long. That sounds like a perfect love story." Brooke gushed, a hand on her chest. Ben nodded, a little offset by it.

"Thanks. Riley would literally kill me for telling you this, but she... is gorgeous in her white dress." He said, amending his speech as he saw Riley and Danny making their way over to him.

"Thanks Ben. We were wondering if we could borrow that little girl over there?" Riley gestured to Emma, who was doing the chicken dance with one of the cow-guys.

"Wait. Can you take our picture with these guys?" Danny asked, pointing to the cows excitedly. The cows looked frightened all of the sudden, as the six-foot-five guy ran over to them, as excited as a kid. "C'mon, Riles, it'll be fun!"

So Danny and Riley got their picture taken with three cows, and went off to dance with Emma.

"I'm impressed, Ben. Not a lot of guys would be as generous as you to go from normal guy to full time dad in two second." Brooke noted, nodding at Emma, who was dancing with her uncle and aunt, approvingly. "You did a nice job raising that girl."

"Thanks, but as you heard in the speech, I couldn't have done any of it without Danny, Riley, my mom and-"

"Oh my god, taste this." Tucker ran over, a plate of cake in one hand, a fork in the other, with the tall blonde following him. "This is like, heaven. But it's _cake_."

"And him." Ben concluded, shooing Tucker away. However, when one person on Team Wheeler leaves, another one appears.

"Daddy, why don't we make cake like this?" Emma demanded, walking up to him with red velvet cake all over her face, but thankfully, none on her dress. Ben grabbed a napkin from the nearest table and kneeled down to wipe her face off.

"Because that's wedding cake. Wedding cake and special day cakes are different things." He improvised, knowing the conversation they would have about it later would be long. luckily for him, though, Emma seemed temporarily satisfied, though. so she gave her father a peck on the cheek before running off to where the other little kids were jumping around. Riley had cleverly thought ahead to hire a babysitter to watch all of the little kids so the parents could get drunk and only feel a little guilty.

"I'm serious, though. You're doing a great job." Brooke said firmly, and Ben laughed.

"Thanks, Brooke." The song changed to something slower, and the "mosh pit" of sorts turned into a calm scene of couples swaying back and forth in a matter of seconds.

"Do you-" They both started at the same time, and then laughed nervously.

"Do you want to dance? With me?" Ben asked lamely, sure she was going to say no.

"Sure." Brooke beamed at him before grabbing his hand. They stepped into the dance floor, where she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he remembered to put his hands on her waist quickly. He and Chelsea had never slow danced, he noted, before remembering who he should be focused on.

Towards the end of the night, though, Ben caught a glimpse of Emma yawning and realized how far past her bedtime it was. Even in the summer, she didn't stay up very late, so a day this long was sure to make her cranky if he didn't get her to bed ASAP. Unsurprisingly, he and Brooke exchanged phone numbers, and he promised to call her. And he would, he decided, as he said goodbye to everyone, a sleepy Emma in tow.

He had buckled Emma into her carseat and was about to close her car door when she mumbled "Hey, daddy? That lady you were dancing with..." Ben remembered how much Emma had hated Chelsea, and realized he would probably see angry Emma more often. "I like her." Emma finished, before shutting her eyes. Ben stood there for a moment before shutting the door and smiling, and he continued to do so all the way back to the apartment. _My kid approves of my possible girlfriend._ He was pretty psyched.

He opened the door to a silent apartment and carried Emma into her bedroom, where he helped her change out of her dress and into her fairy pajamas. As he turned out her light and closed her door, he felt the strange sensation that his life was flashing before his eyes, but shook it off immediately.

_That's enough sentimentality for one day_ he thought, before heading to bed himself, hanging up the tux on his door.

Just as he was about to drift off, he remembered something. Emma didn't brush her teeth.

* * *

**Yes, this ends abruptly. No, this is not the ****_end_**** end. Yes, you should review. kthnxforreadingbye.**


	8. Chapter 8: Coffee and Clothes

**A/N: So... I'm back... but I leave again for like a week and a half on the 14th. Sorry. But, here's the next chapter, right on schedule. It's not very good, or funny, or proofread. As usual. Why do you all even put up with me? Emma's about 14 or 15 here. So, again, sorry about, basically everything, and I'm trying to make the next chapter funnier and fluffier. For those of you who follow Ready: I'm editing it, and it'll probably end up being more than three chapters, because heaven forbid I try to write a three-shot :P**

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, alerted, or, of course, reviewed me or my stories. It just makes my day :)**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

"Dad. _Daddy_. Wake up! We're gonna be late!" Ben awoke to two big blue eyes staring at him, as they have been for years. Emma crossed her arms, already dressed in some fancy outfit that she got from her job. It took Ben ages to finally agree to let her walk to the Aeropostale outlet where she applied to work at after school. Apparently, the store also taught her how to have an attitude.

"Honestly, Dad. How many times am I gonna have to do this? _School starts at eight._ Not nine- I'm not five years old!" She threw up her hands as she stomped out- her long, honey-blonde ringlets bouncing in her wake.

"Nope, you're definitely right." Ben grumbled as he heaved himself out of bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He pulled on a shirt, the fabric smelling of the weird fabric softener Emma bought weeks ago.

He lumbered into the kitchen and found Tucker already in there, pouring two mugs of coffee as always. They had fallen into this routine years ago. Tucker would make the coffee while one Wheeler awoke the other, before they all parted for work and school. This carried on even after Tucker moved out, and Ben was grateful to his best friend for always being there from him... in pajamas... stealing his coffee every morning.

"Hey, Tuck." Ben said. Tucker passed him a mug of coffee in response. He added a splash of cream and a spoonful of sugar to kill it's bitter taste. "I know we've been over this, but you have your own coffee maker in your apartment."

Tucker rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but this coffee maker is _better_. Plus, you're buying the coffee now, so it's free for me." He said brightly, and then it was Ben's turn to roll his eyes.

"Dad, why don't you ever let me have coffee? Everyone in the world drinks it. _Nine-year-olds_ drink it." Emma complained, putting her empty cereal bowl in the dishwasher. Her voice was on the verge of a whine, and Ben inwardly groaned at how typically _teenager_ she sounded.

He forced himself to not sound snappish when her replied with "First of all, nine year olds _don't_ drink coffee. Second of all, already have this guy-" Ben pointed at Tucker with his thumb, "Mooching off of me. Third, it stains your teeth. And fourth-" Emma rolled her eyes, and he raised his eyebrow at her. "_Fourth_, and this is the last one, You don't need to be any more hyper than you already are." Ben told her. They's had this conversation a hundred times. Still, Emma scoffed at him, crossing her arms.

"You are _such_ a hypocrite, Dad. You drink coffee every day. And then you tell me not to drink, but you work at a bar! Ugh!" Emma threw up her hands and stomped out. Despite having heard this before, the words still stung.

Tucker gave him a sympathetic look before saluting to Ben. "I'm gonna head home now. Good luck." He emptied his mug into the sink before heading to the door. "Bye, Emma!" He called.

"Walk safe, I guess." Ben replied, taking another sip of his coffee.

Tucker walked out and across the hall to apartment 4C. Ben smiled and shook his head.

Ben finished his coffee, wondering why Emma always asked his permission to drink coffee, when she could pour herself coffee perfectly well. No sooner had that thought crossed his mind when another one followed it soon after. _She still respects me_. He realized, and he smiled as he placed the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

Five minutes later, Emma walked out of her room in a totally new outfit. Again. Ben had given up of trying to get her to just _choose an outfit_ the first time years ago, and chose to let her do what she wanted while he prepared for work. He was the bathroom, dabbing on cologne when Emma hammered on the door.

"Daddy! I need to brush my teeth. Isn't that, like, the most important thing to you?" Her voice dripped with irritation, and Ben rolled his eyes as he opened the door.

"Look, I'm your dad. You shouldn't talk to- What are you _wearing_?" He asked, his voice a mix of astonishment and horror as she stepped past him, reaching for her toothbrush.

"Clothes, Dad." She replied sarcastically, and he crossed his arms at her.

"Really? Clothes cover your skin. Clothes are not a skirt that barely covers anything and a shirt that shows your mid-riff. When has wearing something like that been acceptable here?" He asked her, not masking the frustration in his tone.

"I ha er haher hi on." She tried to speak with her mouthful of toothpaste before spitting it out and trying again. "I can wear whatever I want at school. They don't have a dress code." She said smugly, before moving on to applying her mascara. "Besides, I got this from a friend. Everyone wears stuff like this. Just like how everyone drinks coffee." She continued to gripe about the unfairness of it all, but Ben had stopped listening. His anger with her was building up.

"Emma Wheeler!" He shouted, cutting her off mid-rant. She whipped her head to him, wide-eyed. He had only shouted at her a couple of times in her life, and that was in her toddler stage. "You do _not_ talk to your father like that. You know better. You also know better than to dress like a prostitute." He was unprepared to give this speech, and all of the words tumbling from his mouth felt wrong, but he had never yelled at an Emma who could understand why he was so angry. "I don't care if every teenager in the _world_ dresses like that. What are you trying to prove, anyway? Let me tell you something- Your aunt Riley dressed like a normal person, and now she's one of the best, most sought-after lawyers in New York. You're a smart girl, Emma. Your whole "coffee" thing was understandable at first, but now it's plain exhausting. I don't spend my days plotting about how to make your life miserable. I wouldn't tell you to do anything that's bad for you. Emma, looking after you and making sure that you make good choices is my job." He had started out loud and angry, but trailed off into a quieter voice. Emma's bottom lip quivered, and he was worried that she was about to cry. "Just... Please trust me when I tell you something, okay?" He asked her quietly. She bit her lip and nodded, moving over to hug him. As he hugged her back, Ben realized that his daughter hadn't initiated a hug with him for a long, long time.

* * *

**So... Yeah... Sorry...  
Random question: How old is "too old" for a Disney movie? You can tell me in your review- and guess what? You can review even if you aren't a member of FanFiction! YAY! So, you know what to do now!**


	9. Chapter 9: Jobs and a Date

**A/N: Okay, so by popular demand, here is the chapter a lot of you have been asking for! Well, actually, it's the first part of the chapter you've been asking for. The best is yet to come...  
So, it's a short chapter. I blame that on the fact that I watched the last half of Season 2 of New Girl today. Seriously. And my heart is still doing happy dances because of it. Just sayin'. So, sorry about that, but I put a lot of work into these 930 words, as opposed to my typically unedited 1,900 word chapters... :) (Actually, chapter 7 was 2,821 words... why do you put up with me?)**

**On another note: Thank you all so much for the response to the last chapter! Every day, I opened up my inbox to find it full of favorites, follows and reviews, and I kinda bragged to my brother, who didn't care. At all. But seriously, thank you all so, so much :) And p.s. I just watched the Jungle Book. No guilt. GO DISNEY! So, thank you all, and I hope you all like this chapter!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

"Emma, could you put these all on the clearance rack?" CeCe pushed a rack of randomly assorted clothes Emma's way. Before it had even stopped rolling, Emma was dragging it all the way to the back of the shop, repressing a sigh. Why CeCe always put her on clearance duty, she didn't know. Now she would have to sort out shirts and pants and then arrange them by sizes, and she would also have to fix all of the other clothes there anyway, because no one put things back where they should-

_Then again, maybe this isn't so bad..._ Emma thought, staring at the boy in front of her. Well, not really in front of her. His back was to her, and he was standing a bit to her right, but _still_. It was _Josh_ from math class. Emma's heart fluttered in her chest as she walked past him, praying he didn't notice her, and dying for him to say hello. He was her math partner, and it was a wonder that he even noticed her. He was one of the most sought after guys in school- he was on the hockey team, and he had close cropped, sandy brown hair, and brown eyes that reminded Emma how badly she was craving a milk chocolate Hershey's bar. Imaging sitting next to that, while using the quadratic formula.

She began hanging up shirts and arranging them by size with bated breath, wondering if she should say hello. It was the twenty first century after all. She shouldn't have to wait for him to make the first move. So before she could stop herself, she blurted out "Hey, Josh." With out looking at him, trying to look cool and disinterested, and probably achieving a slightly drunk look.

Josh glanced up at her, flashing her a grin. "Hey, Emma. How's it goin'?" He asked her casually, setting down the sneakers he'd been looking at. Sure they were friends and all, but she'd never really seen him outside of school, besides the times she and her friends went to the school hockey games, when her eyes followed number 34 the entire time.

_Oh. My. GOSH._ Now her stomach was doing flips in sync with her heart, and she still managed to force out the words "OH, good, gooooood. Yeah, it's all cool... uh huh... How are you?" _Oh dear lord._ She mentally kicked herself a million times over, but Josh just laughed lightly.

"I'm pretty good actually, yeah." He paused, rubbing the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable all of the sudden. Emma's heart stopped. Did she have something on her face? Just as she was about to turn around and rub at it, or die of embarrassment, Josh walked up and cleared his throat. "Um, hey, Emma?" He started. Unsure of where this was going, her eyes wide as saucers, Emma nodded, not sure of what she should say. "Do... Do you want to go out? Like- like on a date? Maybe? Like on Saturday? I mean, I was just wondering..." He trailed off, his perfectly chiseled face crimson red.

Now, fireworks were going off in her head when she managed to reply, "Oh, yeah, sure. Sounds good. I mean, I'd have to check with my dad and everything, but yeah, I'd love to." She rambled, ending with a smile that belonged to a psycho at a mental hospital.

"Oh, awesome. Cool. Okay, I- I'll see you later, then. Bye, Emma." He waved at her, and began walking away, and then glanced at the shoes like he'd forgotten he was holding them. "Oh, haha, these." He mumbled, putting them back before hurrying out. Emma peeked after him long enough to see him fist bump the air. Suppressing a giggle, she continued to sort clothes until the end of her shift. Then a slight panic set in. How would she tell her dad? The one time she had brought one of her guy friends home, he shot venomous looks at the guy until she explained that said friend, Russell, was gay. Even then, Ben kept a wary eye on him.

She walked out of the store as she did every day, and found her dad waiting for her outside the car, as always. She walked up and hugged him, as she did all of the time, trying to keep up some semblance of normal.

"Hey, Daddy. Look, I'm really sorry about this morning, I was just grumpy, and you know how it gets when I'm on my-" Ben held up his hand, his face slightly disgusted.

"Two things. One, all is forgiven. I still love you." He chuckled, opening the car door for her. She smiled and sat down as he closed the door. Getting in on his side, he continued, "And two, remember. We never talk about... you know... _that time_..." Ben looked like he was going to barf, "Here. Auntie Riley is the one to talk about, or even Brooke. Okay? Just not me? I love you a lot, don't get me wrong, but still..." He shuddered, starting the car. They made mindless chit-chat for the next couple of minutes, and when they were walking through the apartment building's doors, Emma decided it was time.

"Hey, daddy?" she asked him tentatively, punching the button for the elevator.

"Yeah, sweetie?" Ben mumbled, looking at his phone. Probably texting Brooke.

"Um... AguynamedJoshaskedmetogooutwithhimonSaturdaycanIgo ?" She blurted out. Ben blinked at her, his face blank. Then his phone clattered to the floor. She was pretty sure all of New York City could hear him holler:

"WHAT?!"

* * *

**Tee-hee... Hope y'all enjoyed that bit. Next chapter will be from Ben again, I promise!  
Next question: Who here watches New Girl? If you don't, do you watch Doctor Who? If you answered no to both of these questions, watch the show(S) or I will find you... maybe... Probably not... (I'm a babbling, writing, fangirling, nerd. No wonder I'm single :P)**


	10. Chapter 10: Sabotage and Feelings

**A/N: Wow, Chapter ten already. So, as you know, I won't be back until the 26th-ish. Feel free to throw tomatoes at me. But hey, I'm going to England! WOO! As usual, the chapter could stand for me to do editing, but I'm tired, it's late, and I leave early tomorrow, so...sorry. But I like the idea of the chapter. Sorry if Ben's reaction didn't live up to your hopes and dreams.  
Ready fans: I am editing it, I promise, I've just been a bit busy. The edited chapters should be up sometime soon after I get back.**

**Thank you all so much for the response to this story. I smile every time someone favorites or follows me or this story, or reviews it, so, thanks as always!  
Now, enjoy chapter 10!**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

"...And you want to go out with him?" Ben asked again, running his fingers through his hair, trying to breathe. Emma nodded, recrossing her legs and rolling her eyes. Ben had been pacing the floor of the living room for the last half hour while Emma sat on the couch and watched, waiting for him to give her permission. "Nononono, this isn't... you're way too young!" He blurted out.

Emma sighed, reaching into her bag for her math textbook. "Look, Dad, I'm not too young. Plenty of people my age- and younger- have gone on dates. I'm not marrying him, we're just going to hang out. _Relax._" She opened the book and began working on her homework. Ben continued pacing.

"But... I don't even know this punk. I at least want to meet him before I let him go out with you." Ben nodded, figuring that would scare Emma into giving up.

She didn't even glance up from the page. "Fine. If you'll let me go out with him once you meet him, that works for me. Now, if you'll excuse me." She picked up her stuff and headed to her bedroom.

Ben slipped out of the apartment and stumbled the three yards across the hall to Tucker's place. "Tuck! Tucker!" He hammered on the door.

Ben heard a shuffling noise before Tucker opened the door in a plaid robe. "Dude, what is the matter with you? My beauty sleep is precious, you know."

Ben pushed past him and stepped inside, resuming his pacing in Tucker's living room. "Some punk I've never met asked Emma out and she doesn't seem to notice that I'm having a panic attack right now over it, and she's all like 'But there's no problem 'cause he's just my friend right now'" He said, using a high voice and air quotes for the last bit. "But she's never been on a date before and I'm super worried and- TUCKER!" He'd glanced up to see Tucker trying to creep back into bed.

Tucker sighed and walked back over to Ben. "Look, do you want my advice, or do you just want to rant?"

Ben blinked. "Um... A little bit of both, I guess?" He shrugged.

"Okay, I have two bits of advice. One: Have you never seen Cheaper by the Dozen 2?" Ben shook his head.

"Why would I have seen that?"

"You have a daughter, and that movie is a wonderful family-friendly comedy!" Tucker exclaimed, before clearing throat. "Not that I know or anything. Anyway, the dad in the movie goes to spy on his daughter's first date, and sees the other guy's dad doing the same thing. Sure, when the daughter finds out, she's mad at him, but eventually realizes he did that out of love and forgives him."

"Uh... okay..." Ben wasn't sure how to respond to that. "What's the second bit of advice?"

"Oh, this is the best bit. Two: _Get out of my apartment._" Tuck pointed to the door. Ben threw up his hands in frustration and headed home, hearing Tucker slam the door and mutter something that was either "Muted creep," or "Beauty sleep."

"Okay, Emma. You can go out with this guy." Ben declared at the breakfast table the next morning. Emma nearly choked on her toast.

"Are you serious?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Yes. I still have to meet him but-" He was smothered by a tidal wave of blonde curls as Emma leapt up to hug him.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou! Oh, this'll be awesome! I'm gonna call him right now- no, wait, that would be uncool. I'll just..." Emma's voice got quieter as she ran down the hall, apparently forgetting she still had half of her breakfast to eat. Ben sighed and gulped down the last of his coffee before he put everything in the sink.

Emma ran out of her room and into the bathroom, hurriedly brushing her teeth before moving on to her make up, which she applied slowly and precisely, the exact opposite of her movements just moments ago. "Don't forget to floss." Ben called, half jokingly. Emma rolled her eyes in the mirror, but he saw her reach for the floss box thing anyway.

As usual, Ben stood at the door five minutes later, tapping his toe and checking his watch. "Emma, come on!" He called for her. She ran out of her room, tossing her hair over her shoulders.

"How do I look?" She asked, doing a little twirl. Ben reluctantly nodded in approval.

"You look good. Why do you straighten you hair though? I still don't get this stuff." He aid as the walked out the door. He had learnt long ago never to just leave Emma with a "you look fine." It would cause her to change her outfit again, and again, and again.

"Oh, Daddy. It's a girl thing." She patted his arm, like she used to do when she was five and could barely reach him. He smiled and hugged her with one arm.

Later that day, Ben was behind the bar, and looked up to see Danny walking in. "Hey, Bro. How's it goin'?" He asked his brother, giving him a man-hug (**A/N: Never understand those...) **Before continuing to dish out drinks to the midday alcoholics of the bar. Danny perched on a bar stool and set his head on the counter.

"So... Tired... Must... Rest..." He murmured sleepily.

Ben gave him a strange look. "Then why are you _here_? No one's at your house- your kids are at school and your wife's doing lawyering stuff."

"Need... Drink..."

"Add in a please and you've got it." Ben replied amiably, reaching under the counter for a glass.

Danny looked at his brother with a slightly disappointed look on his face. "Remember when we weren't working on manners with our kids? When we were young and free and child-less, getting as many phone numbers as we could?"

"Well, I don't remember doing so in New York, seeing as Emma arrived, like, an hour after you did. But yeah, those were good times, man." Ben flipped bottles in silence for a bit before adding, "But I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I know I've said it a thousand times, but it's true. I love our family. Thanksgiving is lots of fun, and very, very awkward." Ben mentally ticked off the names of the people at their most recent Thanksgiving: Himself, Emma, Tucker, Tucker's fiancé Shay, Danny, Riley, their two kids Rose and Blake, Bonnie and one of her boyfriends- this time a military guy, Ray, Steve, and Ben's nana. "Thirteen people, all gathered around a small table sharing a larger than average turkey. You never know what's going to happen, but it all turns out for the better." He passed Danny his drink.

"Thanks Oprah. You just gave me a reason to drink even more." Danny grumbled, taking a long sip. "But you're right." He added after a bit.

"Oh, and some punk asked Emma out, so I'm gonna spy on her first date." Ben added. Danny nearly choked on his drink.

"Wait... What?"

So Ben recapped the entire story whilst flipping bottles and pouring drinks for no one in particular. Really, he was just doing it to keep from running out, and either finding the guy and putting the fear of God in him, or shrinking Emma back to when she was five.

"God... I can't imagine how I'd deal with some guy asking Rosie out- or Blake bringing a girl home..." Danny said, practically shuddering at the thought. Ben gaped at his six-foot-five brother, a guy who broke bones for a living, and he couldn't deal with the _idea _of his daughter going on a date.

"Well, my problem's more present, so for now, it's more important. Sorry." He added as Danny began to protest. Then he paused. "You know... you could come in handy for my evil scheme." He said, leaning closer conspiratorially.

"Wait, you're crashing your daughter's first date AND you're evil? What's the matter with you man?" Danny exclaimed. Even after seven years of being a dad to twins, and being married to a lawyer, sometimes, things still went clear over Danny's head.

Once Ben explained the plan, though, Danny totally understood the importance of the situation. "This might be possible." He mused.

Ben nodded. "It might."**  
**

"Daddy, this is Josh." Emma walked up to him after school, as he stood outside the car, waiting for her and playing Temple Run on his phone. He noticed a boy trailing behind her.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Wheeler." He said. Ben looked hard into the kid's eyes, giving his hand one firm pump. With one glance, he could tell that under his mud-brown eyes, Josh was scared of him. _Good_. Ben thought.

"Pleasure." Ben said curtly. Emma watched them closely, probably ready to step in at any point if either of them (meaning Ben) attacked the other.

"Okay, Daddy, you've met Josh, We can go now." Emma said, trying to push Ben towards the car, but Ben didn't move.

"Oh, but I'd like to learn more about him. So, Josh, what do you do outside of school?" Ben asked, giving Josh a look that said _If you run, I will get you._

Josh blinked before saying, "I help out on the Green Committee after school on Fridays and Saturdays, and I do football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring." He said, looking Ben in the eye the whole time. _He's either a really good guy or he's been trained well. _Ben decided, suddenly noticing the whole button-down, preppy thing this guy had doing.

"So you don't have a job, then." Ben said, throwing a hint of disapproval into his voice.

"Well, not during the school year, but I work as a small bookstore near my family's apartment in the summer. Every year, we do a walk to raise money for charity." He said, sounding slightly defensive.

"That's... nice..." Ben said, thrown off by the answer. Awkwardly, he looked down at his watch. "Oh my, look at the time. Looks like we should go Emma. Good to meet you, Josh." He said stiffly, throwing himself into the driver's seat. He caught a glimpse of Emma squeezing Josh's hand and smiling at him before slipping into the passenger seat.

"What was that?" They asked each other simultaneously. "Me? What did _I _do?" The both said. Ben pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Things get really awkward when we do that." He grumbled. Emma laughed and agreed. They then went through the whole thing where Emma said how "nice and sweet" Josh was, and Ben said he still was suspicious. This carried on until they got home, where Emma headed over to her friend's place in the apartment below them. Ben avoided Emma's friend's mom, still convinced that she was a klepto.

He headed up to his room, collapsing on his bed, exhausted. Not thirty seconds after he's laid down, his phone rang. He growled aloud, picking it up without checking the caller id. "Hello?"

"Ben, hi. It's Brooke."

"Brooke?" He sat straight up. "Hey, how- how are you?"

He couldn't believe it- he hadn't spoken to Brooke since she moved to Texas for work.

"I'm good. I just wanted you to know that I'm moving back to the city, and I was wondering it you wanted to hang out.: She sounded kinda nervous, as if he'd say no. Then, genius that he was, he realized that she was also asking if he was still single.

"Yeah, of course. When?"

They got caught up on details and days and such before hanging up. Ben laid back down, suddenly quite happy.

Because maybe they could pick up where they left off four years ago.

Four years ago, they dated.

Four years ago, he fell in love.

And, of course, four years ago, he almost proposed to a woman named Brooke Winter.

* * *

**I almost forgot to add- He dated Brooke for like three years. I'm sorry, I realize I left that out, I WILL fix it. And did anyone catch my National Treasure reference. And yeah, I'm a geek 'cuz it's my favorite movie.**

**Question (I have two). One: What do you think hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia means? Those of you who either just Googled/Yahooed it, don't ruin it for the others. Two: WHY DID NO ONE ASKE ME QUESTIONS FOR A Q&A TWO WEEKS AGO?**

**So, yeah. And I just need to say, leilalovesseddie, thanks for reviewing, and inspiring these two chapters! Thanks guys, see you soon! (And never forget to review!)**


	11. Chapter 11: A Date and a Ring

**Hello! I'm back from London! However, it seems like the rain (and procrastination) followed me home :P I've been trying to crank out an essay for school... now going too well. So, instead, I typed this up in two-ish hours after watching the horror of the finale preview. If you haven't watched it, and you ship Danny and Riley, I suggest you give up your hopes and dreams now, and begin crying with me. Just sayin'.  
Anyway, this is the third-to-last chapter in this story. SORRY! *Avoids the virtual tomatoes being thrown at me* I've kinda run out of steam on this one. I promise I'll write more Baby Daddy stories, but this one has run it's course. I've loved writing about Emma and Ben and how they've grown up throughout this story.  
And of course, I'd like to thank all of you for reading this story, reviewing, and favoriting, following and alerting it! I smile every time I open my inbox up and see it full of FanFiction reviews, and alerts of followers and favorites :)**

**So, here's the date chapter. I plan on doing another, separate piece on this, all from Emma's POV. But for now, here's our lovable Ben and his crazy scheme.**

**~Caitlyn**

* * *

The movie was Grown-Ups 2, and it was playing at 7:15. The kid- _Josh_- had picked Emma up at 6:45. Ben mentally recorded these things, feeling like an extremely foolish spy. At 7, Ben hailed a cab, and made his way to the theater. Those fifteen minutes in between made him anxious, pacing and running through his simple plan again.

When the taxi finally parked in front of the theater, Ben threw a few dollars at him and practically leaped out of the cab, shoving on shades as he did. In the glassy reflection from the door, he caught a view of himself. A shady-looking guy, in glasses, a black hoodie, and a fedora. Oh, yeah, and a stick-on mustache.

He hopped in line, and glanced around until his gaze locked on Danny. He peered at his older brother over his glasses, double checking to see if that was really his brother. The six-foot-five, super-fit, hockey player, had on a t-shirt of their dad's and (presumably) a pillow tied around his waist, making him seem a hundred pounds heavier. He was wearing a wig, and his son's Hot Wheels sunglasses. He gave Ben a slight shake of his head, once he caught his eyes. Ben nodded back, and glanced back towards the Arcade, where Tucker was stationed as an old man. Tucker shook his head, and then mouthed _I will kill you_ with exaggerated hand gestures. Ben rolled his eyes and continued forward with the line. It was 7:16 when Ben finally got into the movie, popcorn in hand. Danny, Tucker and Riley were also in there somewhere, all keeping their eyes on Emma. Ben was two rows directly behind them, with a perfect view of both Emma and the screen.

The movie started off slow. Ben had never seen the first Grown-Ups movie, so he had no idea what was going on. He removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair, bored. He felt a kernel of popcorn pelt him in the head. He glanced to his right, where Tucker was urgently pointing to Emma and Josh, and trying to hit Josh with popcorn.

Ben mentally kicked himself. While he had been, inevitably, watching the movie, Josh had done the stupid yawn-y move and put his arm around Emma. He could see, from his position, only the backs of their heads, but he had a feeling Emma was smiling. He shoved his glasses back on and followed through with his plan. He threw pieces of popcorn at the kid until one finally hit him. Josh retracted his arm to glance back, only to find a guy in shades behind him, and behind that was just a family or four. He figured it was once of the kids, and played it off cool as if he had meant to get more popcorn with that hand.

Pleased that his plan had actually worked, Ben settled back in his seat, relaxed as the crisis had been averted. On screen, the grown-ups were acting like total idiots, and Ben couldn't help laugh at how silly their schemes were, and how obviously they wouldn't work. Then he paused, realization filtering in. He glanced at Danny, who was sound asleep, Tucker, who's eyes were transfixed on the screen, and Riley, who had moved next to Danny and was now Foo-Dad-Choo-ing his face with a Sharpie. Ben looked down to see Josh was holding Emma's hand and he sighed out loud in resignation. Just like in the movie, Ben was finally realizing that both he and Emma had to grow up. For real, this time.

At the end of the movie, though, Ben chose to continue with his plan, just to be safe. He gestured for the others to follow him, and waited as Emma and Josh gathered their stuff and proceeded to exit the room. Ben followed a safe few yards behind. in the middle of the hallway though, Emma paused and turned around. "Oops, that was the trashcan back there, one sec." As she passed Ben, who had hunched over and turned to face a sign, she whispered "You're _so_ dead."

Surprised, Ben straightened up and whipped around, removing his sunglasses as he did so. "How did you... But.. I..." He stammered, for once at a loss for words. Emma scoffed.

"Oh, _please._ Only you would get Uncle Tucker to throw popcorn at Josh. Now, I have to go, because JOSH will be driving me home. Bye, now." She gave him a little wave, and slightly skipped over to Josh, interlocking her fingers with his once more, all smiles and bubbles. Danny, Riled and Tucker all walked up to him, wigs and such in hand.

They proceeded out to the main lobby of the theater, where he saw Emma and Josh running out to the kid's car, using their jackets as protection from the heavy rain beating down on them. His eyes followed the two of them as Josh opee=ned the passenger-side door for Emma. Just before she got in, though, Josh leaned in and-

Ben cut his eyes away, looking down. When he looked up again, Emma was already in the car, which was pulling out of the lot. He looked at his friends, all gaping at the scene that they obviously observed. Danny turned his wide eyes on Ben.

"Looks like your daughter has a new boyfriend, bud." He said, patting Ben's shoulder. Tucker was rubbing his eyes, as if trying to erase what he saw from his mind. Riley blinked a few times before saying. "Um... Okay... That was... okay... Honey, let's get home now!" She sing-songed, taking Danny's arm and dragging him out of the theater.

On the cab ride back, Ben took out his phone and dialed Brooke.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Brooke, it's Ben..."

She laughed slightly. "I know, it's you, Ben. Everyone has caller ID now."

"Oh, right. Uh, well, I don't know what's happening with my brain right now. You see, Emma..." and he launched unto the story of his evening.

"Oh. Wow. How about I come over for dinner, and we just relax. Okay? I'll tell you all about Texas, and you can tell me about how you've been since I moved away. Sound good?"

Yeah. Can't wait to see you." He said, and hung up.

Later that night, Brooke showed up with wine and Mac-n-Cheese, and even Emma didn't complain when she sat down with them and ate a late dinner. Emma and Brooke talked and laughed for about the whole meal, Ben piping in with funny tid-bits here and there. Overall, it was a fantastic night, in Ben's opinion.

"Night, Emma." Ben whispered. They just had their nightly (or other-nightly, if one of them had been too busy) re-con chat, where they went over the-this and the-that of the day, since as a child, Emma claimed that she only remembered how her day was at bedtime when he was tucking her in. So, now they called it a re-con.

"'Night, Dad." She murmured sleepily back. He kissed her forehead, and was walking out when she whispered. "I still really like Brooke. You should marry her this time."

Ben sucked in a little breath and blinked at his daughter, who was easily falling into the waiting arms of unconsiousness. He glanced out at Brooke, who was finishing her wine in the living room.

_Huh. _He thought about the ring in his room, the ring he buried under a pile of books in his closet. _Maybe I will._

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**So... Yeah. There will be even more Brooke in the next chapter... and a little bit of a time jump :)**

**Today's question is: If you could have any superpower in the universe, what would it be, and why? (Please give me more ideas for questions, I'm falling back on the generic ones now :P)**

**Don't forget to review! ;)**


	12. Chapter 12: Another Wedding and Tears

**A/N: Oh. My. Gosh. This is the second-to-last chapter, and I can barely believe it. It's a little all over the place, much like my feels, so excuse the sloppiness. It's also very late at night, so I'm super tired. I'd like to thank / for the use of there vows, since I sure as hell don't know 'em. Also in this chapter is a Sara Evans song that always makes me cry. I listened to it once as I wrote this chapter. This part, these 2,178 words took me, like, three hours to write, so y'al; better enjoy and review it.  
As usual, I'm always overwhelmed by the positivity of your reviews, and how many people have added me or this story (or both!) to their follows to favorite's list, and I just want to thank you again and again... which I do...**

**Enjoy this last real part! The next chapter is the Epilouge...**

**~Caitlyn**

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"Ben Wheeler, do you take Brooke to be your lawfully wedded wife, and in the presence of your friends and family, do you vow that you will do everything in your power to strengthen your commitment and love each and every day? Will you stand by her in sickness or in health, in poverty or in wealth, and will you shun all others and keep yourself to her alone as long as you both shall live?"

Ben didn't hesitate even for a moment as he stared into Brooke's eyes and said "I do."

"Brooke Winter, do you take Ben to be your lawfully wedded husband, and in the presence of your friends and family, do you vow that you will do everything in your power to strengthen your commitment and love each and every day? Will you stand by him in sickness or in health, in poverty or in wealth, and will you shun all others and keep yourself to him alone as long as you both shall live?

Brooke smiled at Ben and said "I do."

In Emma's opinion, the ceremony had been beautiful. Secretly, she figured that one of her family members would find a way to screw it up, but they hadn't... yet. Emma was still doubtful, and she eyed everyone from her position with the bridesmaids. Riley, who was standing next to her, was about five months pregnant with she and Danny's third child, and completely enamored in the proceedings up at the altar, while sharing quick glances across the room with Danny, who was standing proudly as the best man. Tucker was standing right behind him, trying not to look bored as the preacher droned on. Bonnie and Ray were elbowing each other from the bench every now and then, and on either side of them were their dates; Ray was with Steve, while Bonnie was with the Army guy she'd been dating for a few years. Riley's mom was sitting with Blake and Rose on either side of her one row back, who were both coloring in some Disney character book. Emma's gaze drifted over the crowd until she caught the eye of Josh, who grinned at her and winked. She smiled back and ignored the butterflies in her stomach. Even though they'd been going out for over _eight months_, she still felt excited every time he gave her one of his goofy grins. She reminded herself to pay attention to her father's wedding again before she got too distracted.

"By the power vested in me by the State of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your Bride." There was a great amount of clapping and "aww's" as Ben bent down to kiss his new wife.

"May joy and peace be yours today and in all of life's tomorrows. Go forth in peace. It is now my privilege to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler."

The clapping continued, and there were some whistles from the back, probably from Danny's teammates. Riley leaned over to Emma and whispered "Thank God we're done- I've had to pee for the last hour." She laughed at Emma's disgusted face.

"TMI, Aunt Riley. TMI."

Ben and Brooke ran out of the church holding hands, while certain wedding-goers showered them with flower petals and rice. Riley and Danny made their way out next, laughing as rice got in their hair. Emma followed them out, linking arms with Tucker, as they were instructed.

Once outside, she stood with her dad and stepmom for the next half hour, taking pictures with the endless stream of people coming to wish the new couple well and such. After a while, though, the muscles in she cheeks began to ache, and she wandered off to find Josh, who was chatting with a group of their friends that her dad let her invite.

"Hey," She greeted all of them, wrapping her arm around Josh's waist, as he automatically draped his arm across her shoulders. They all "Hey" 'd her in return.

"Gosh, your dress is _so_ pretty, Emma, I just want to _die_!" Her friend, Kelsey, gushed. Emma looked down at the floor-length, light lavender-and-white dress she was wearing. It had one strap, and a white ruffle-type thing going around the very top of the dress, while the rest was simply lavender. She had to admit- she wasn't sure if she ever wanted to take it off. She fiddled with it's one strap and smiled. "Thanks, Kels."

"Yeah, I might have to steal it from you one day," Her best friend, Liz, joked.

"Ohmygosh, like, me too!" Josh added in a high-pitched, Valley-girl voice. Emma playfully punched him in the arm, but continued to grin at him. She loved how easily he got along with her friends, and how he didn't mind to be surrounded by all of her friends sometimes. Riley came over with her camera and requested- well, _demanded_ actually- a few photos of Emma and her friends, which they all obliged to.

"Emma, come on! We're getting in the limo!" Danny called to her. She gave her friends a hug, and Josh a quick kiss before hurrying over to where her uncle was waiting with the door open.

"Thanks, Uncle Danny." She said, before ducking into the limo, and settling next to Rose and Blake, who had crayon marks all over their arms. She helped Riley clean them up with wet wipes while laughing along with everyone as they rode to the reception.

"You know, Dad, the last time we were at a wedding, it was Uncle Danny's and Aunt Riley's, and I was, like, seven, an the flower girl. Didn't you meet Brooke at the wedding?" Emma piped up. She earned "Aww's" from everyone in the limo, while Ben and Brooke shared a look as they squeezed each other's hand.

"Honestly, dude, after Brooke left, I didn't think you'd ever move on." Danny piped up. The limo fell awkwardly silent, which was immediately broken by a "whoah!" from everyone as they went over a speed bump.

"Well... Yeah, because I knew she was the one." Ben finally said. Brooke grinned and nudged him playfully.

"You did not." She laughed, and Ben nodded vigorously.

"I really did! When you had to move to Texas, I didn't know what to do, so I just held out hope that you'd come back for us- I mean, me. Actually, wait no. I really do mean us. Emma and I are a package deal." He said, beaming at his daughter, holding his free arm out to her. She grinned back at him, and perched on the space he had made for her.

"Ben and his girls. OH! Picture! Stay right there!" Riley squealed, fishing around for her phone. Rose and Blake simultaneously rolled their eyes at their mom, which earned them light Gibbs-slaps from their father. Emma leaned in close and continued smiling for Riley. Her cheek muscles had gone numb, and she had given up on trying to revive them.

"How's my baby girl?" Ben asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Emma fake-rolled her eyes. "_Daaaddy_. I'm fine. I'm not a baby, though," She ended with a light laugh, but her father looked her straight in the eye and said "You'll always be my baby." She squinted at him. "Daddy, are you crying?"

He shook his head, but he sniffed and wiped at his eyes anyway. "I'm just so happy." He managed. Brooke leaned her head on his shoulder, and Emma did the same. Riley snapped more photos, and the wedding party soon made their way to the reception. After they had all filed out, they bustled inside, and the bridesmaids took Brooke into a separate room to help herfreshen up and whatnot, but they ended up just sitting in chairs or on the floor, giggling like little girls.

"Oh, remember when you and Ben went to that water park with me and Dave? And Ben forgot to bring swim trunks, se he just went around in soaking wet clothes?" The room erupted into laughter as Katie brought this up.

"Can someone help me unzip this, please?" Emma asked, fiddling with the bottom of her dress. Brooke had cleverly built in zippers on the dresses, placed right above the knees, so that the bridesmaids could unzip the bottom part of the dress and not die from tripping over the fabric while dancing. Katie hurried over to help Emma, and vice versa. They set their pieces over in the corner, and out of the way. The rest of the bridesmaids followed in suit, and soon they were all twirling around, relishing in the freedom of movement again. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Is everyone ready for dinner or what?" Tucker called. Brooke and Emma exchanged a look.

"As ready as we'll ever be." Brooke called back, and at that, they all turned and headed out the door.

Ben's POV

"Brooke, ever since the day I met you, nine whole years ago, I had a feeling you were the one." Ben began his speech. There were some eye rolls, "aww's" and "yeah, right's" from the audience. "No- seriously. Wanna know why?" He pointed at Emma. "It's because that little girl, my beautiful daughter, looked up at me and said 'That lady you were dancing with... I like her.' She said those exact words, and I just knew. I knew that you made my little girl smile, and from there on out, I was a goner. And you didn't care that I had a seven-year-old daughter. You respected the fact that my daughter was the first and foremost concern in my life, and helped me raise her. I don't know how I would have gotten through those four years without you." There were more "aww's" and he could see Brooke and Emma grasping each other's hands, smiling at him, and probably crying. "Brooke, your level-headedness has guided me for years, and the past four years, when you were gone and I was confronted with a problem, I asked myself "What would Brooke do?" and usually a sassy, yet good answer would pop into my head like a gift from God. You, in fact, are my gift from God. And I'll probably follow Danny's lead by saying "Yes, dear" to... well, mostly everything." The audience rumbled with laughter and Danny called out "No way, that's my line!"

"I love you Brooke, and I love that you accepted my slightly crazy family without hesitation, and I know that even though we've gotten a late start, we're to face the rest of our lives together, and happily. I love you." He set down the microphone and headed back to the table. Brooke kissed him, and held his hand through the rest of the speeches.

When it was time to cut the cake, Brooke whispered to Ben as they headed up, "Finally. This is the best part." and Ben heartily agreed.

Together, they cut a large slice ("What if we actually don't get anymore?" Brooke whispered) and fed a piece to each other... with their fingers... and ended up drawing on each other's cheeks with frosting, which made Riley take about a million more photos. ("They're TOO CUTE!")

After cake had been eaten, and everyone was happily stuffed, it was time for the father-daughter dance... or rather, the fathers-daughters dance. While Brooke danced with her dad, Ben took Emma's hand and led her out to the dance floor. They twirled around together expertly, as Ben had taught Emma to dance when she was quite young, and they had randomly dance together in the living room whenever music was on for as long as she could remember. Ben pulled her close and sang the lyrics quietly. "In the sunlight or the rain, brightest nights or darkest days, I'l always... feel the same way... whatever road you may be on... no, you're never to far gone, my love is there, wherever you may be... just remember that you'll always be my baby." Ben blinked tears out of his eyes and saw that Emma was doing the same. "Look, Emmakins, I stand by what I said eight years ago. You probably don't remember, so I'll say it again. I'm so sorry your mom left us, but I think we have had the best of times together, and I mean that. I am so grateful to you for all that you've done in my life. I didn't know I missed you until you showed up, if you know what I mean. And Brooke isn't someone who's trying to fill in as your mom- she's not like that. She's a woman I am In love with, and I'm glad you approve of her. I don't know what I'd do without you in my world Emma. I love you." He hugged her as the song ended, Leaving the two of them together in the dance floor, crying.

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***tears streaming down face* Don't tell me that wasn't touching. Seriously!**

**Question: Could you see any of this *wildly gestures to entire story* Happening on the show? I could see some of it... not all though...**

**Thanks for reading! Don't forget- anyone and everyone (member or not) can review, so please do!**


	13. Chapter 13: Thank you and Goodbye (Real)

**A/N: Well, since I received absolutely no response on the previous chapter, I had to assume that it was too long, rambling, and overall BAD. So, I proofread this chapter, made it short and sweet, and tried to make it a great LAST CHAPTER. Because of all of the (bad) feels from the (bad) season finale, I felt like I couldn't keep this going even if I wanted to. I'll keep writing on FF, just not in this story. I'll be posting edited versions of each chapter every few days before moving on to editing Ready.**

**I'd like to sincerely thank each and every person who's read this entire story, whether you've been with me from the start, or just joined me now, or are reading this in the future. The response to this story had been overwhelmingly amazing, and I never expected anyone to read anything that i had written at all, so thank you all so much for reviewing, favoriting, alerting and following either me or this story. It means so much to me, and I'm so happy to have such great readers!**

**Now, without further ado or rambling, the 368 word final chapter. Enjoy!**

**~Caitlyn**

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Two Years Later...

"Damian Walkins" The principal's tired voice boomed over the loudspeakers.

Ben gripped Brooke's hand tightly, and she winced.

"Sorry, babe. I'm just so nervous, you know?" Brooke couldn't disagree with him. Ben was practically shaking from head to toe. Danny patted his brother's shoulder upon noticing this.

"It's okay, man." He told his younger brother reassuringly. Ben nodded, but didn't let go of Brooke's hand anyway. He took a moment to observe his life changing scene, just as his daughter had years before. His wife was on his right, his brother on his left, who's arm was around _his_ wife, and Ben's best friend, Riley. Danny had their two-year-old son in his lap, who's name was John.

"A simple name for a complicated family." Riley had quipped two years ago in the hospital.

Back in the present, Ben swiveled around to glance at who was behind him. Tucker, who was holding hands with Vanessa, and Bonnie, her fiancé the Army guy (who's name Ben still had yet to learn/remember) Ray, and Steve. The twins were seated in between their grandparents, entranced by the screen of one of their parent's phones. And, if he craned his head, he could see his daughter, beaming along with her friends, as they waited for her name to be called, as she was the last in the group waiting for her diploma. Her cheeks were pink and rosy, her hair as fine as golden silk, ringlets perfect. Her eyes shone, as though she could see her whole life ahead of her.

"Emma Wheeler." And in that moment, Ben could too. For just a moment, he saw a flash of the grown-up woman she would become. A tall, confident, proud woman. Someone who wouldn't take crap from anyone, and maybe screwed things up sometimes, but could bounce back in a second from any blow. She would keep in touch with her family, and try to find her mom, but not waste her life on it. But most of all, she would always love her daddy. That was what Ben saw when his daughter walked up onto the stage, received her diploma, and headed onward towards her life.

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**So... That's a wrap!**

**Our last chapter-ly question is: What did you think of this last chapter? How about the season 2 finale? And you know how to answer that, in that little review box below!**

**Thank you, and goodbye!**


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